BP to interpret 3D-data from prospective structure in Caspian Sea

Some 18 months will be required to BP in all for interpretation of data received from 3D survey at the Shafaq-Asiman prospective structure in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, Greg Riley, BP's Director of Eurasian Exploration, said in his interview with Caspian Center for Energy and Environment (CCEE) of ADA University.

Riley added that another year will be required for planning of the first exploration well.

As BP's Director of Eurasian Exploration said, during 2013, the data was being processed from what is believed to have been the largest 3D survey ever conducted in Azerbaijan waters.

"We are very optimistic about the Shafag-Asiman," Riley stressed.

A 30 year contract on Shafag-Asiman was signed in October 2010. The exploration period will be four years, with possibility of extension for three more years. Two wells are to be drilled within the first phase. Two more wells will be drilled if necessary within the second one.
In the operational period the sides will implement joint operatorship within the project. Shared participation in the contract is expected on the scheme 50 to 50 percent.

The forecasted reserves of the Shafag-Asiman block have hit 500 billion cubic meters of gas and 65 million tons of condensate.

The block is located 125 kilometers to the south-east of Baku. Exploration work has not been conducted on the block yet. It is located at a depth of 650-800 meters with the depth of the reservoir at 7,000 meters.